Waddled across to Haselmere on sweet-little-girl duty this aft. Brimmed the tank on the way. 278.5 miles, 43 litres, some wasted because of the silly short petrol hose and my sloppy parking ... a whisker under 30mpg, call it 30, not awful for mostly short journeys and a big lump of London congestion, but a tiny bit disappointing. I had hoped my sensitive foot and the nice clean air filter would give me a pleasant surprise.
Just getting the little girls from their schools, taking them to violin and piano classes, then back home to their house and back here, damn near 50 miles. But the fuel gauge needle hasn't moved off the full mark yet.
I go gently these days and mimse myself, but there are goddamn limits. Needless to say I was uttering monotonous curses for much of the way following people doing 35 on 60-limit roads. Herself must be a saint to stand it. I don't tailgate, ever, except when on the point of passing, but one driver could obviously see me mouthing away behind and suddenly stopped, letting me nip past, instead of just driving at a reasonable speed in a sensible manner.
Car needs oil change and new filter anyway, but it's running a tiny tiny, really tiny bit rough and may need new plugs at last. I guess even these modern plugs don't last for ever, just 20,000 miles instead of the 10,000 they used to last if you were lucky. I hope it's nothing worse than that.
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You're turning into me :). I shall help you get this tread to more than 300 replies :p
Are you still driving that Chrysler?
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>> You're turning into me :). I shall help you get this tread to more than
>> 300 replies :p
>>
Here we go then:
You need to stop mimsing around and take the car for a real blast to clear it out.
Now post on:
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What engine/box do you have AC?
I was surprised to read these were produced until 2010, can't think of the newest one I have seen.
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2 litre, manual (they tell me the auto is a dog).
I take the Sheikh's point about my faffing and mimsing. I wonder if his other commitments will allow him to give me some hands-on driving tuition for a couple of weeks? It's embarrassing, getting in people's way all the time. And being in a state of terror behind the wheel can't be good for my health.
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>>>... a whisker under 30mpg, call it 30, not awful for mostly short journeys and a big lump of London congestion, but a tiny bit disappointing. I had hoped my sensitive foot and the nice clean air filter would give me a pleasant surprise.
This is where the petrol vs diesel thing just gets cemented for me every time. Under the same circumstances my Allfa JTD would probably have recorded around 48mpg.... a true cross country mimse (i.e. keeping to speed limits) would easily see you well over 50mpg. I really can't contemplate going back to the "almost 30mpg" days.
Even if I tear the pants off it enough to alarm a sensitive passenger you'd still be looking at 45mpg+.
Funnily enough I'm pondering on loadspace difficulties with the Alfa at the moment and have been searching Autotrader for modest priced diesel estates which brings up a few Cruisers. I'm OK with the shape but not quite so keen on the shiny dash however the clincher even if I considered one is the dreadful, unhelpful and expensive local Chrysler dealers.
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Hah - my vintage car will do 45mpg. On real petrol though - the current stuff adulterated with ethanol is not so good.
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Provided I stuck to 70, my 1.8 petrol Vectra (hated thing) did 44 (measured, not indicated on a majic computer) when motorway cruising. Which is about what my 2.2d Accord just does without thinking about it.
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The Cruiser did 37mpg or a bit better going fairly gently on French A roads, not exceeding 70ish.
Saw a nice red Alfa 1.8 GTD in the supermarket car park today. But I think there's a 2.4 litre one which must be better. Tempting in a way, but there's something incongruous in an Alfa diesel to an old geezer like me. I think if I was going for a diesel I'd prefer a BMW 330d coupé, a very capable vehicle with enjoyably treacherous handling.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Thu 13 Mar 14 at 16:24
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You want to try tearing about cross country in 1.7 tonnes of 4.2 litre petrol powered V8 mated to Quattro drivetrain and a 4 speed auto 'box! The economy, or lack of it, would make you wince. Does make a fabulous sound though, and is remarkably swift for a near 20 year old car. And beautifully comfortable to boot :-)
Long term average since I've had it (1,800 miles now) is just under 20mpg. It'll do mid twenties on longer journeys, and high twenties at a push (or on cruise controlled motorway stints). But that's not really where or how I use it... Still, I'm collecting lots of shell points :-)
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>> Long term average since I've had it (1,800 miles now) is just under 20mpg
A8, an enviable jalopy... and super-economical by fifties standards. My 1953 R Type did about 17mpg out of town if you didn't exceed 70, and 8mpg in town (where it lived). Of course juice was still almost free in the late sixties when I had it. Can't remember how big the tank was but it was pretty big, 25 gallons I think. I can remember being a bit shocked by having to pay 20 quid for a fill-up.
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I and a friend did a circular trip on Tuesday, to pick up a rebuilt short engine from Bedford way, and transfer it to where the car it belongs to is being overhauled, in Worcestershire.
The transport was a 2000 ish 4.6 auto petrol Range Rover. I'm pleased to say my driving on the home leg raised the average from 18.9 to 19.1mpg, per trip computer which is probably optimistic.
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>> pick up a rebuilt short engine from Bedford way
T&L?
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I've used them a few times. Excellent service.
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Petrol consumption - RattleandSmoke
